By Vestnik Kavkaza
Yesterday the second king of Jordan, Abdullah II, described the struggle against the terrorists of Islamic State (ISIS) as a third world war in which Muslims, Christians and representatives of other religions are allies. The group, which involves tens of thousands of militants, has declared a caliphate on the territories it has occupied. It is going to extend its influence. Experts fear that one of the terrorists’ goals could be the Caspian region.
The director of the Caspian Cooperation Institute, Sergei Mikheyev, thinks that the situation around ISIS is one of the main challenges in the region's security: “If Transcaucasia is separated from ISIS by relatively stable Turkey and Iran, the proximity of Afghanistan to Central Asia is a very serious risk to Turkmenistan as a Caspian country, and, in general, to all other states in the region. I believe that ISIS is a real threat. And ISIS’s connection to Al-Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban, as well as with extremists within the countries of the region, is a real threat in the very near future. I do not believe that the bombings by the Americans or the valiant actions of the Iraqi army will be able to solve this problem.”
According to Mikheyev, “one of the Caspian countries, namely Iran, is already directly involved in a war with ISIS. If the Iranians were not helping, most likely Baghdad would be occupied, and we would have seen another Iraq - and the Iraqi army, along with its instructors, could not do anything about it. And by the way, as you know, it is one of the grounds of behind-the-scenes cooperation between Iran and the West. Iran is forced to deal with it, and I think that if the progress of ISIS continues as it is in the future, then we simply will have no choice but to coordinate our actions in this direction. Whether we want it or not, whether we like it or not, it does not even matter. Danger unites much faster and in a more reliable way than any other reason.”
The expert believes that if ISIS comes to the borders of Turkmenistan, the neutrality of Turkmenistan won’t stop it: “All these traditional institutions of international law are false for ISIS. They absolutely do not care about the agreements and status which we are discussing. If they feel powerful enough to solve some problem, they will solve it, no matter what we are discussing, arguing and discussing.”
Mikheyev cannot help kicking our fellow partners in the West, because of their direct connection with this issue their geopolitical politics directly led to the fact that ISIS was created, and the fact that now the situation to the south-east threatens us, the Caspian states: “These people are very creative, they love to do something, so they've made lots of troubles, so to speak. I think that they might make a mess in any other region, and they won’t be stopped, in fact, with all this talk about the fact that someone is buying some oil. Iraq has also sold its oil and gas to the West, so what? This did not stop anyone from turning the country into trash, ruins. I really do not exclude a situation, when a few years later we will have to discuss with you not a pipeline supply of gas or oil in one direction or another, but discuss who will go on the flank, who from the rear, and who will shell from the air.”
